Yours faithfully or Yours
sincerely; Dear Sir or Dear Mr
On this page we look at important
phrases for writing letters and emails, such as when to use Yours faithfully
and Yours sincerely, Dear Sir, Dear Madam, and so forth.
You know how important it is to
speak good English in an international working environment. If you work for a
company which does business abroad, you probably read and write a lot of
English, too. Writing, like speaking, is communication. When writing
letters and emails we need the skills to be able to express ourselves well and
with the correct level of formality.
Do you have that skill? Ask
yourself these questions:
Do you present
yourself in a professional manner when you write?
What image do
you give to the people who read your letters and emails?
In short, you want to give a
professional image when you write to your customers and business partners. To
get you started, we’ve prepared some lists of standard phrases:
10 good opening lines
We need an opening line in a
business letter or professional email:
to make reference to previous correspondence; to say how we found the
recipient’s name/address; to say why we are writing to the recipient.
With reference
to your letter of 8 June, I … .
I am writing to
enquire about … .
After having seen
your advertisement in … , I would like … .
After having
received your address from … , I … .
I received your
address from … and would like … .
We/I recently
wrote to you about … .
Thank you for
your letter of 8 May.
Thank you for
your letter regarding … .
Thank you for
your letter/e-mail about … .
In reply to
your letter of 8 May, … .
10 good closing lines
We need a closing line in a
business letter or email:
to make a reference to a future event; to repeat an apology; to offer help
If you require
any further information, feel free to contact me.
I look forward
to your reply.
I look forward
to hearing from you.
I look forward
to seeing you.
Please advise
as necessary.
We look forward
to a successful working relationship in the future.
Should you need
any further information, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Once again, I
apologise for any inconvenience.
We hope that we
may continue to rely on your valued custom.
I would
appreciate your immediate attention to this matter.
‘Yours faithfully’ or ‘Yours
sincerely’ in a business letter?
When the recipient’s name is
unknown to you:
Dear Sir …
Yours faithfully
Dear Madam …
Yours faithfully
Dear Sir or
Madam … Yours faithfully
When you know the recipient’s
name:
Dear Mr Hanson
… Yours sincerely
Dear Mrs Hanson
… Yours sincerely
Dear Miss
Hanson … Yours sincerely
Dear Ms Hanson
… Yours sincerely
When addressing a good friend or colleague:
